Full disclosure, I’m a total koreaboo, to the uninitiated its someone obsessed with Korean culture. The inner dork in me loves Korean Pop (there’s more to it than Gangnam style; trust me), Korean TV shows and Korean beauty and style trends. The first thing I noticed when watching Korean dramas and music videos- how flawless everyone looked. I mean you can not deny, even Psy’s skin looked amazing in Gangnam Style. Like all the women and the men had Dewy glowing blemish free skin. Initially I attributed it to lightning and make up, but even off camera they looked amazing; it couldn’t be only makeup could it?
This is how I fell into the world of Korean beauty or K beauty for short.
Holding out for a hero
For my first post I would like to introduce the superstar ingredient of Korean beauty products- Snail Mucin.
It’s hard to find a Korean beauty brand that doesn’t carry this secret ingredient!!! And trust me it works `
So I decided to start to write about a product I’m obsessed with, like absolutely in love with. It's the one thing in my routine besides cleansing that I can't do without!
Snail Mucin or as my roommate calls it- snail goop!!!
I remember recommending this to my BFF, her reaction could be summed up as “eeewwww... NOOOO”. It took a lot of begging and a promise of taking her out for lunch to get her to try it and since then she loves it!
Th first snail serum I ever tried was Mizon Snail intensive Ampoule and it says a lot about the product that I decided to stick with this product for over two years
The Mizon Snail Repair Intensive Ampoule
Now serums are meant to be highly effective and are jam packed with ingredients that are great for your skin and the Mizon Snail intensive Ampoule is no different. Packed with 80% snail mucin filtrate which has been proven to heal acne scarring, boost skin viscosity and elasticity and hydrate the skin. It also contains hyaluronic acid with aids skin elasticity and reducing fine lines and cacao which is rich in antioxidants.
Now that is lot that this product promises and it does deliver on most of them.
How to use:
Personally, I use just a few drops every night right after cleansing and toning- I just apply a few drops and tap it into my skin.
Surprisingly it does not feel sticky and applies easily onto the skin. It’s also absorbed pretty fast and doesn’t sit on my skin.
My Take
After some bad experiences with more expensive serums ( Kiehls midnight recovery concentrate, more on that later) I was a little apprehensive. Plus it can be hard to find a product that works on combination skin.
But honest to god this product is a miracle worker. My skin felt smoother, plumper and more hydrated after the first use. I also loved that it didn’t make my skin feel oiler or just sat on my skin.
Long term use it has kept my skin sufficiently hydrated, help lighten some acne scars - they haven’t totally disappeared and helped my skin feel more supple.
At 29 I can't really speak about it efficacy in terms of reducing wrinkles- but since I see none on my face I would like to believe it works.
What I was really looking for was a product that would help even out my skin tone and help it looks healthier .. And if does reduce some scarring that would be amazing.
So starting off I was a little skeptical - I mean no single ingredient/ product could do all this that was promised!!!! But this does... if you're looking to invest in just one product this is it!!!
Believe the hype!
